HELP! Kal or anyone Itinerary Changed for next week

[mwebb]

Learned on the boards last night that Carnival changed the itinerary for the Legend for next week. Legend will not be in St. Marteen on April 5th from 7-4 as planned but on Friday, April 7th from 10-6 ship time instead. We were previously booked with Bayside stables for the 900am-11:00 beach ride and had then planned on going to Marigot to the open market and then back to Phillipsburgh to shop. I called Bayside this morning and rescheduled for an afternoon ride from 200-400 p.m. island time. (I think this is 1-3 ship time but am confused). How should we plan our day taking into consideration traffic. This is also one hour less to enjoy this wonderful island. Is there an open market in MArigot on Friday? What should the optimum schedule look like with these changes?

[SnorkelAway]

The time will be the same after this Sunday, April 2, 2006; that is, Eastern Daylight Saving Time is same as Atlantic Time. So, when you are in SXM on April 7, your ship time (which will be EDT) will be same as SXM time (Atlantic). (SXM does not change clock to any daylight saving time.)

 

I think you can just shift your plans a little; go to Marigot market first, then the horses, then P'burg. Should work out fine. (I am not 100% certain about Marigot market, but I am pretty sure they have market on Friday - somebody correct me if I am wrong.)

[kal]

Learned on the boards last night that Carnival changed the itinerary for the Legend for next week. Legend will not be in St. Marteen on April 5th from 7-4 as planned but on Friday, April 7th from 10-6 ship time instead. We were previously booked with Bayside stables for the 900am-11:00 beach ride and had then planned on going to Marigot to the open market and then back to Phillipsburgh to shop. I called Bayside this morning and rescheduled for an afternoon ride from 200-400 p.m. island time. (I think this is 1-3 ship time but am confused). How should we plan our day taking into consideration traffic. This is also one hour less to enjoy this wonderful island. Is there an open market in MArigot on Friday? What should the optimum schedule look like with these changes?

 

First off, Savings Time starts on April 2nd therefore next week the time in St. Maarten will be the SAME as Eastern Daylite Time (i.e. "ships time").

 

You might want to make sure the Bayside appointment is for 2:00-4:00pm local time so there are no surprises.

 

A Friday arrival will likely mean there will only be a few boats in port. Thus your late arrival might not place you into heavy traffic thru Philipsburg. However, it will be very so going when heading into Marigot during the late morning hours.

 

The open-air market in Marigot occurs on Wednesdays and Saturdays, but some vendors will be there on Friday.

 

You'll have a very full day, so watch the time carefully. I would do a clockwise route around the island. Check out the vendors in the open-air market, but walk thru Marigot to the Port La Royale. You'll pass numbers of little French shops that will be fun to see. Assuming Bayside is at 2:00p, that will give you some time to see the sights between Marigot and the Bayside/Orient area.

 

If you leave Bayside at 4:00p, you'll probably hit some traffic into Philipsburg so allow for that. The PBurg shops close by 6:00p, so if you hurry you'll have some time to shop. Just be efficient and prioritize your shopping needs ahead of time. That time will go very quickly.

[mwebb]

Thank you for input. Is it worth it to go to Marigot & expense of cab fare if not much in way of market or should I opt for Orient Beach instead (never been there)?

Horses are 2-4 island time- so it may barely give me enough time to get to PBurgh and look around a bit. Or should I just hit PBurgh in am? I've been there before and LOVE the jewelry but that could be an all day adventure.

I Love St M and definately will be back.

[mwebb]

Thank you for input. Is it worth it to go to Marigot & expense of cab fare if not much in way of market or should I opt for Orient Beach instead (never been there)?

Horses are 2-4 island time- so it may barely give me enough time to get to PBurgh and look around a bit. Or should I just hit PBurgh in am? I've been there before and LOVE the jewelry but that could be an all day adventure.

I Love St M and definately will be back.

[kal]

The question really is to shop in PBurg or shop in Marigot? The answer would depend on what kinds of things you're looking for. If you like jewelry, PBurg is definitely the place. If you pass on Marigot this time, you could do a quick look in PBurg then follow-up when you return at 4:30p.

 

The idea to go to Orient is always a good one, even if you use it as a place for lunch, then chill before hitting the horses. The proximity to the stables would be a real plus as you could avoid any traffic uncertainties.

 

For jewelry I would suggest Alpha Jewels directly across from the GuavaBerry Emporium. The owner is a personal friend who will take extremely good care of you if you mention my name ($$$$).

 

No matter what you do, the good news is that there is only one other boat in port. That will help considerably with traffic and number of shoppers on Front Street.

[SnorkelAway]

mwebb - if you have never been to Marigot, then I recommend you go to Marigot first thing off ship and see it, as opposed to shopping the morning in P'burg. My wife and I are not big Marigot people for shopping and definitely prefer shopping in P'burg, but if you have never seen Marigot, I think you would enjoy going there and checking it out. You can threaten everyone with seeing another fort - actually worth seeing, incidentally.) You shoudl be able to check out Orient briefly at least between Marigot and Orient. You probably will have a little time to hit the jewelry stores in P'Burg on return. Taxi fares are not that bad from harbor to Marigot - $15 total for 1 or 2; $6 pp for 3-5; $5 pp for 6-14.

 

(Remind your husband that if you buy this, he owes me....)

[mwebb]

Thanks Kal & Snorleaway. Appreciate any advice

[SnorkelAway]

My post should have read that you can check out Orient between Marigot and the horses, if you have time.